Olympic torch relay travels from Plymouth to Exeter

The Olympic flame is being carried from Plymouth to Exeter on the second day of the torch relay ahead of the London 2012 Games.

The relay starts just before 08:00BST and heads up the coast, taking in towns including Modbury and Dartmouth.

The flame makes a return to Torre Abbey, which it visited in 1948 when Torquay was the Olympic sailing venue.

During the day, 121 people will carry the torch before an evening celebration at Exeter Cathedral.

A total of 8,000 people will carry the flame on its 8,000 mile, 70-day journey to the opening ceremony of the Olympic Games on 27 July.

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It is being borne by members of the public, young and old, who were nominated for their achievements, sporting contributions and community work.

Olympians and other VIPs will also carry the torch.

Each of the torchbearers will run with the flame for about 300m before lighting the next bearer's torch in a "kiss".

Officers from the Torch Security Team, co-ordinated by the Metropolitan Police, are accompanying the runners throughout the relay.

Large crowds gathered on Saturday to see the first day's relay through Cornwall.

Triple Olympic gold medallist sailor Ben Ainslie was the first to carry the flame at Land's End.

It passed through towns and countryside and visited the Eden Project, where it took a ride in a balloon in the rainforest biome.

The relay then crossed into Devon and ended its first day with an evening celebration on Plymouth Hoe.

The torch visits the four nations of the UK before being taken to the Olympic Stadium in Stratford on 27 July for the opening ceremony of the Games.

It will travel through 1,019 cities, towns and villages, on foot or in convoy, and drop in at UK landmarks like the Giant's Causeway and Stonehenge.

It will be carried by bearers, or taken in a convoy and will also be transported by boat, bicycle, tram and train.

The flame, meant to represent purity, was kindled from the rays of the sun using a parabolic mirror, in a ceremony on 10 May at Olympia, the home of the ancient Olympic Games.

It was taken on a 1,800 mile-long relay around Greece before being handed over to the Princess Royal on Thursday evening at the Panathenaic stadium, Athens.

A flame first burned for a modern summer Olympic Games at Amsterdam 1928, but it was not until Berlin 1936 that a full torch relay was staged.

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